


Orchids

by GuessWhoNeedsToGetALife



Category: VIXX
Genre: Angst, Fluff, I mean, I'm not sure you can get much more angsty than actual character death, M/M, Reminiscing, Slow Burn, Soooo much angst, but I'm intending for slow burn, but not really until the end, but there will be explicit content later, i don't know yet, it's only E rated right now because of the archive warning, not until way later though, on his relationship with Hakyeon, probably, smut later on, the whole fic is Hongbin looking back, wink wonk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 05:54:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13851480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuessWhoNeedsToGetALife/pseuds/GuessWhoNeedsToGetALife
Summary: Hongbin liked taking photos.It was the ability to take what might age or fade and preserve it for eternity. It was the ability to take something beautiful and pretend nothing else existed outside of the frame. It was the ability to take a moment in time and create something timeless.





	Orchids

**Author's Note:**

> This is honestly my first time writing anything that has any really angsty part to it so I really hope I can do it justice- I hope you enjoy reading this! This is just a sort of prologue chapter of sorts but I'll do my very best to have more up soon-

Photographs. They truly were a magical thing. A photograph held the ability to take a moment in the never-ending flow of time and capture it for eternity. A photograph held the ability to take a moment of happiness and confine it, protect it from being tainted by every other moment of sadness. A photograph retained that which had been lost. A photograph, a mere piece of paper, had the capability to mean the universe.

Hongbin stood from his armchair and walked into the kitchen. He’d been working on a new project lately, a more conceptual idea than some of his previous works. It was his intent to create something that represented time and the passage of such and he’d been spending the day brainstorming on how best to go about such a thing. He knew he wasn’t the first to use the concept of time as a basis for a project, of course, but that was only even more reason for him to come up with an original method of representing such a concept. He’d considered finding some people to request he photograph, perhaps models to work with or perhaps just people in the street of varying ages, but he’d decided that idea alone seemed far too simplistic. He considered working with more ideas based on still life, after all, that had always what he’d been most comfortable photographing. Hongbin had always liked taking photographs of plants, landscapes, even the cityscape had its own charm in the stories it could tell without the need for words. The idea of still life had provided more inspiration to him than the use of a model so he ran with that to see what he could do with it. After all, he hadn’t used a model in his work in two years. No one could captivate what he was looking for quite like Hakyeon had. The thought made his chest feel heavy and he could feel his motivation to continue working sap away by the second. Even the thought of working with a model besides Hakyeon took a toll on him. He knew he’d have to eventually, there’s only so much you can do without including people in your photographs, just… not yet. 

Hongbin sighed as the kettle popped. After working all day, it was reasonable to take a break to relax, right? And what better a way to spend an evening in than with a cup of tea and a good book? That was his plan at least. Curl up in his favourite armchair with a good book and enjoy the evening before getting back to work tomorrow with a fresher mind.

On his way back to the armchair however, mug in hand, he found himself pausing. Once again, like so many times before, Hongbin found himself looking towards a chest of drawers that was gathering a thin layer of dust in the corner of his living room. He was hesitant, almost like he was afraid to do any more than look over.

The chest of drawers in question seemed almost out of place in relation to the rest of the room. Hongbin was the type to keep his house relatively clean, by no means immaculate but certainly presentable and dust wasn’t something he was fond of. The drawers didn’t even quite match the colour scheme of the room. Burnt oranges and warm browns made up most of the room’s colouring aside from this small near-black chest of drawers. 

Hongbin chuckled to himself. It had been Hakyeon who had been so set on buying the little thing. Thought it ‘looked cool and might give the room some character,’ he’d said. Hongbin had thought he looked like something akin to an excited puppy and he seemed so set on buying it that there was no way Hongbin could’ve said no. Not that he didn’t try, that was. The immediate response he’d received upon attempting was intense puppy eyes that sealed the deal. Thus, this small, out of place chest of drawers had made its way into their living room. 

Hongbin only ever kept one thing in this chest of drawers; his photo album. Hakyeon never stopped reminding Hongbin how much he adored the photographs Hongbin took. There were photographs of all manner of things to be found in that album for a long time. He’d bought the biggest one he could find to be able to keep them all in one place. For convenience, Hakyeon had said. Convenience for whom, Hongbin had questioned at the time. He’d never seen any issue with the multitude of envelopes and albums he had his various photographs split amongst.

That was until he came home one day to find Hakyeon sat in Hongbin’s usual armchair, flicking through the photographs with a smile across his features. Hakyeon hadn’t even noticed Hongbin’s presence at the time, far too absorbed in moving from photograph to photograph, taking a moment to take in the beauty, the emotion and the love that went into each one. Hongbin was almost taken aback by the sight. Hakyeon looked so at peace when he looked at the photographs Hongbin took. It was the same kind of look Hongbin was so familiar with having directed at himself, whether Hakyeon noticed that he saw it every time or not. It made Hongbin smile. He took out his camera and took a photograph of Hakyeon there and then. Only then did Hakyeon notice his presence and offer a smile to Hongbin himself, of which another photograph was snapped before the camera was set down and Hongbin approached for the usual ‘welcome back’s.

Hongbin had soon after bought a new photo album for his other photos, and that album became solely dedicated to those akin to the ones he took of Hakyeon that day. A place to keep every photo he’d ever taken and ever would take of his lover. A place to keep the memories that were the most important to Hongbin over all else.

Hongbin paused for several moments before the now slightly dusty chest of drawers, his freshly made cup of tea still in his hands. He felt hesitant to open it. He always felt hesitant to open it. This was typically where he’d turn around and find something else to occupy his mind with. This time, however, as opposed to all others, the hesitance didn’t last as Hongbin placed his cup down and pulled the top drawer open to remove the album. He returned to his armchair with the album in hand and let out a soft sigh. He quickly opened the book and thumbed through each page until he found what he was looking for.

It was the photograph he’d taken that day of Hakyeon sitting in the very armchair Hongbin now sat within, looking so absorbed in the very album Hongbin now held. He stopped once he found the photograph in question and spent several moments doing nothing but taking in every detail of the image. It was as if his eyes were starved somehow, as if he’d been deprived of sunlight or something equally so essential to life that he now couldn’t take his eyes away. He hadn’t even noticed that he’d been holding his breath until he released it upon resting his eyes over Hakyeon’s face. It’d been so long since he’d last looked through the album that he’d almost forgotten the cathartic effect that seemed to wash over him just from holding it in his hands. Just seeing a photograph of Hakyeon, seeing how at peace he’d seemed in that moment, it almost brought a comforting feeling to Hongbin despite the heavy feeling that was now rooted firmly in his chest. 

The thick layers of dust on the album and the drawers that held it alike showed how long it had been since Hongbin had last opened – had last dared to look inside – the album he held now. He’d avoided it for so long that it almost felt foreign to hold it again now. Did he even feel ready to hold it again now? He wasn’t even sure if he knew the answer to that as he flicked back to the first photo in the album. 

It was a landscape of trees lining either side of a path during the autumn. Leaves were falling and blowing in the wind, painting a sea of burnt oranges and golds across the photograph. In the centre, seeming far too intentional to have been the coincidence it was, was a single person. His trench coat billowed in the wind as he wandered along the path, appearing to be looking off into the distance thinking about who only knew what. His skin was a beautiful golden tan to rival the colour of the leaves. It was like the surroundings in that moment perfectly reflected this man and everything that made him, or at least that was the conclusion Hongbin had come to when he’d looked back on this photograph so many times.

It was the first photograph he’d ever captured Hakyeon within and for that, it held more meaning to him than almost anything Hongbin could name.


End file.
